We arrived in Firenze (Florence) around noon. The train station was bustling with travelers catching their departing trains out of Tuscany. Lauren and I were anything but bustling. Pretty much confused. We knew we had to (or did we) take a bus to get to our hotel, but we couldn't figure out the ticket situation for a while. After some perfectly time passive aggressive comments Lauren saw a sign above the newspaper stand that said bus tickets. Problem solved (for now).
Bus 6 from the train station claimed to take us to our destination, however the stop we were looking for was four stops behind the train station, and there were about 20 more to go in the loop before it got back to our stop. It never occurred to us that buses could go in both directions, at least it didn't occur to us until after we boarded the bus and contemplated the strange decision we had just made. Needless to say hindsight (which much to Lauren's delight I think should be spelled heinzheit) has become a motto for us on this trip, and this time we didn't leave anything to be desired. We pretty much messed up everywhere we could mess up, but it has been fun. The bus finally made its way back North of the Arno and towards our destination. But Wait! No! Could it Be! We arrived right back at the effing train station. The worst part is that we didn't even see anything interesting the entire time plus it was lunch time and all we had were chocolate filled biscuit cookies (which are delicious).
We gave up and took a cab.
After checking into our hotel we got a map from the lady at the reception desk who by now thinks I am about as dense as a block of parmigiana. This place confuses me. I can't open doors, I can't flush the toilet, and I can't figure out the signs at the train station.
Florence is pretty dopesauce. Lots of old buildings built with class (unlike venice which is cool, but its like that lady you know who wears all of her jewelry all the time and puts on all her perfume just cuz). We wandered about because all of the exhibits are closed on Monday, so we will try our luck by going into town early tomorrow.
Lauren found every pot hole or crack in the street to trip on. I am not joking when I say that she tripped about 15 times and fell off at least 5 curbs. The open air market is pretty sweet. Lauren got me a hat because my head was smoldering. It is linen, which is good because many years from now when I am dead and famous my work from this era will be known as my linen era, much like the primavera's of some other famous dead artists.
On our way to get dinner we heard the sounds of drums of in the distance. We rushed to see what all the hullabaloo (I spelled that right on the first try!) was about. A bunch of dudes in tights and tunics were waving flags, playing drums, and blowing horns. A renaissance parade! We watched it go by as the flag dudes threw their flags high in the air and caught them one handed. We went around another street to try to get ahead of them to get food, but they came right back around the other side and were headed straight back towards us. Cornered. To make matters worse the police horsees were not staying calm. No matter where I seemed to go the thing was slobbering and coming at me. The guy on the horse even looked concerned. As a good man I made sure I kept Lauren out of danger from the horses and right in the crowd of pickpockets and American hating thieves.
All in all it was a good day.
The plan for tomorrow is to see stuff. lots of stuff.
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